Checkerboard Tangzhong Rolls

Artisan "Bread of the Month" challenge...

This was an interesting recipe for us here at the Pantry, because in our chef world the beginning is known as a "RUE", a base for gravies and cream sauces. I was very intrigued and very surprised... We loved them! Best Rolls in a long time. We were out of all black style seeds so we chose to use a roasted garlic and parsley dry herb mix on top of ours along with the sesame seeds. We are adding this recipe to our stack for sure... 😀

CHECKERBOARD TANGZHONG ROLLS

Ingredients
Tangzhong
90 grams (6 T) water
18 grams (2 T) bread flour

Final Dough
345 grams bread flour
30 grams sugar
7 grams instant yeast
15 grams milk powder (optional, I used King Arthur Flour's Special Dry Milk)
All of the tangzhong
75 to 90 grams whole milk
30 grams heavy whipping cream
one egg
30 grams unsalted butter at room temperature
5 grams salt

Topping
Milk
Poppy seeds, sesame seeds, bran, or other seed or topping of your choice

Instructions
To make the tangzhong:
Whisk the water and flour together in a small saucepan until blended.
Cook the mixture over low heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture thickens reaches 149 degrees F, or if you don't have a thermometer, until your spoon forms lines in the mixture. Do not walk away as this happens really fast.
Immediately scrape the mixture into a bowl and cover with plastic wrap, pressing the wrap onto the mixture and let it cool to room temperature.
To make the final dough:
Add the dry ingredients except the salt to the bowl of a stand mixer.
In a medium bowl, whisk the tangzhong with the the milk and cream..
Add the mixture to the dry ingredients and mix on low with the dough hook. Add the salt.
Add the butter, a little bit at a time, continuing to mix on low. If the dough gets too slippery, switch to the paddle for a minute or two to incorporate the ingredients.
Once the butter is incorporated, knead with the dough hook for about 10 minutes, until smooth and elastic.
Transfer the dough to an oiled boil, cover, and let rise for one to two hours, until doubled. You can also let it rise in the refrigerator overnight, up to 24 hours.
Line a 9 inch by 9 inch cake pan with parchment and spray with spray oil.
Divide the dough into 12 equal pieces and shape the pieces into rolls.
Dip each roll into milk and then into the seeds of your choice. Or, for better seed placement than I got, sprinkle the seeds over the top of the milk dipped roll. Arrange the rolls in the pan in a pattern of your choice.
Cover and let rise 1 to 2 hours, until doubled.
Preheat the oven to 355 degrees F.
Bake the rolls for about 20 minutes, until golden. Lift the parchment out of the pan and place the rolls on a wire rack. Remove the parchment and let cool a bit before serving.
Store extras in a plastic bag.
Adapted from a recipe contributed by Dave W, a member of the Facebook group, Artisan Bread Bakers.

Here's a link to my version. http://www.karenskitchenstories.com/2015/0